The only comforting thing about this image was that the wraith and ghoul did not creep forward with it. They also did not appear to show any hostility towards Devin, who continued to sit motionlessly. 

This may have actually been a blessing in disguise. The wraith is likely not used to its new body, or perhaps it didn't know the extent of its new abilities. Assuming that the wraith have more abilities besides increased intelligence and physical strength. 

The smartest move would undoubtedly be using this opportunity to increase my chances against the pair behind, while perhaps making them fearful enough to not have to fight them at all. 

As the wraith crept forward, it suddenly charged in a full sprint. I kept one eye on the pair behind the wraith, while also paying attention to the wraith's sword's path. 

The first swing was all brute force, it looked almost like how someone might swing a baseball bat. Had I been using a shortsword, I would have taken this opportunity to duck and hack one of its legs off. Unfortunately with the larger sword I was carrying now, my only option was to move and bend backwards to avoid the swing. 

The skeleton stopped moving for a moment. Perhaps it had not expected me to dodge, or maybe it realized how open the attack had left it. The brief pause, although idiotic to do in a fight, showed some form of intelligence as it contemplated its previous actions and consequences. The skeleton that existed before would have disregarded its own miss entirely and would've continued its charge. 

The skeleton took a step back and brought up its sword again. The two spectators had continued to watch without any hint of interfering. 

I took a step forward while readying my own sword. This time, instead of swinging with all of its power, the wraith left some strength to catch itself and prepare to defend in case the swing missed, or didn't kill me. 

Rather than dodge the attack, I brought the holy sword upright and swung at the skeleton's sword. 

The skeleton was using its original shortsword it had been using before becoming a wraith. The size difference between our swords meant that most of the recoil was taken by him. 

The recoil left him open to another attack. I could've let go of my larger sword and taken advantage with one of the short swords at my hip, however the wraith had still only used its raw strength. If it had magic or abilities, I still needed the inexperienced wraith to be the one to reveal these to me. 

Rather than use another sword, I let go of the larger sword with one hand, while using its momentum to land a firm kick on the wraith's sternum. 

The wraith tumbled backwards. To the pair of spectators that had been watching, it must've been obvious by now that the skeleton had little to no chance of winning. Unless the wraith's trait of learning from their failures was going to somehow advance him leaps and bounds in swordskill. 

"How about we make a deal?" I called out to the spectators. I still hadn't shown the overwhelming strength that I had been planning to use before making the deal, but, if they disagreed, I could always make another deal after showing my strength. 

If the pair were outraged when I killed this wraith, that could also hurt my chances at making a deal. 

The armored wraith looked at the little ghoul girl who had been standing next to him. The girl cocked her head so that her hair swayed away from the gaping hole in her face again.

"...Deal?..." The girl said monotonously. 

"If you let me and the boy go alive, I won't fight any of you any further. By now you've probably realized that I could've slain this wraith on two occasions, right?" My voice came out surprisingly smooth. I had expected my uncertainty to show more in my voice, but instead I sounded confident. 

"...Dead..." the girl spoke while looking towards Devin who had been sitting silently throughout the whole ordeal. 

I looked from Devin, to the girl, and back to Devin a few times. He hadn't moved an inch from when I entered the area, but I had never thought he was dead. The wraith had raised its sword against him. If he was dead, then why would the wraith raise its sword?

It was possible he died since I had started fighting the new wraith... But the more logical conclusion was that he hadn't died physically, but was more in a state of feeling dead mentally. There were even reported cases when someone would fall into despair and the undead hordes would completely ignore them, mistaking them for someone who was literally dead. 

Despite knowing the posibility that he might still be alive, I could feel the emotions taking over my body. The part of my mind that still had some semblance sanity told me to use this opportunity to force the mana forming from my emotions into my sword. 

The sword began to visibly lighten as my hands trembled while clutching it. 

Similar to the wraith's movements earlier, I swung the sword with all my might, while also attempting to push all of the mana into it. The light that shown from the blade followed the path of the blade and formed and arch spreading outward. 

The new wraith, who certainly had never encountered anything like this before, didn't defend himself properly and his bones that came into contact with the light crumbled into ash. The remainder of his bones fell and formed a clean pile that continued to give off the black flame aura.